Bonum Certa Men Certa

Media Alert: Spokespeople of the EPO Are Lying to Journalists

The EPO is having another 'Clinton moment' (Lewinsky)

Clinton did not have...



Summary: A call for journalists to be more sceptical of what EPO officials and spokespeople tell them, for there is a pattern of deception which compromises accurate reporting

WE WERE rather astonished if not flabbergasted by a response from the EPO (spokespeople presumably), sent for the The Register to publish the other day. We were going to post a point-by-point rebuttal*, but now, as it turns out, Kieren McCarthy already issued a sort of correction. It goes like this:



European Patent Office still in nosedive as union denies reaching deal



[...]

A SUEPO representative vigorously denies the union is prepared to sign the agreement however, telling us that the most recent document the EPO presented still contains "massive flaws" and that the union is still some way from agreeing.

Subsequently, the EPO got back in contact with us to point out that there had been a "misunderstanding" during our conversation over SUEPO's willingness to sign the document. A similar misunderstanding also seemingly occurred when we reported that the revised version of the "request" to EPO management would remove direct criticism of Battistelli.

[...]

With both sides seemingly at an impasse, the board of the EPO's administrative council met twice this month to discuss how to resolve the issue, and once with the president and his staff.

When their solution – an external review of the disciplinary actions – was rejected by Battistelli, they resolved to take it to the full council in March. In particular, a draft of the board's formal response specifically referenced the fact that the management team had failed to sign an MoU with its main union.

Soon after we reported the contents of that response, the EPO told us it was close to signing an MoU. After we reported that, the union strongly denied any such agreement was forthcoming.

What is the truth? The answer is that there are multiple truths and that by reporting on heated negotiations, we poured gasoline on an already flaming wreck.

One thing is for sure: at its March 16-17 meeting in Munich, the EPO's administrative council will need to do something if it wishes to avoid a full meltdown at the organization.


Well, all the pressure is on Battistelli, not on the Council, so he will probably resign rather than be officially sacked, just to make it all look "nice". Then he'll argue about how much money he's entitled to. The moral of the story (and lesson to The Register and others) is, don't trust anything that EPO PR people tell, no matter how persuasively. They have been repeatedly caught lying to the press and we covered examples of this. They not only lie to journalists but also to EPO staff. They even SLAPP activists. _____ * No need for sources on this. I know enough of internal EPO affairs to do this rebuttal, but mostly lacking the time and still recovering from illness and migraines caused by lack of basic/sufficient sleep.

“It takes a long time to turn a big country around.”

--Bill Clinton

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Weaponisation of For-Profit Dockets - Part I: Hiding Behind Lawyers (or Guns for Hire) After Abusing Many People and Even Strangling Women While Microsoft Paid Salaries
This whole thing is very typical of the Microsoft and Bill Gates mindset
From EPO to "MAGA Regime": A Shift Away From Reality to Fake News and False Metrics
Disbelief in itself isn't a bad thing; but the problem is that people are taught to believe rich people in suits more than they believe others
Skype is Officially Dead Today and This is Why People Should Use Free Software Instead (Goodbye, Microsoft)
It's also a good reminder of why people should move to GNU/Linux
'Simple Articles' in MyGemini Just One of Many New 'Sites' in Geminispace
Geminispace has grown fast lately; it's turning 6 next month
 
Thanks for listening. How can this Morse feed be further improved?
Right now any and all feedback on the audio would be helpful
statCounter: Bing's Market Share Lower Right Now Than It Was When LLM Hype Began (With "Bing Chat")
If anybody gains at Google's expense in search, it is BRICS' alternatives such as Yandex
Gemini Links 06/05/2025: Failure and Proxmox Cluster
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 05, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, May 05, 2025
Links 05/05/2025: TikTok Still a Romanian Woe/Foe, Signal Perils Showing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/05/2025: Debian and GNOME and a "Welcome to Simple Articles"
Links for the day
Links 05/05/2025: US Economy Shrinks, US Presidency Spreading Deepfakes
Links for the day
Links 05/05/2025: Breaches, Environment, and Conflicts
Links for the day
SUSE the Company Now Uses LLM Slop to 'Write' Its Blog, What Does That Tell Us About SUSE?
There are many giveaways
Richard Stallman is in Alicante Today to Give a Talk, Czech Republic in Two Days (Wednesday)
Of course he can deliver the talk in Spanish
Gemini Links 05/05/2025: XL Bullies and Luddites
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 04, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, May 04, 2025
Links 04/05/2025: Science, Conflicts, and Monopolies
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Above 7% in Bulgaria, Rising Just Like in Most of Europe
Up to 7%, not counting Chromebooks
Data Shows Largest EU Economies Shifting to GNU/Linux
all-time highs
statCounter Says Only One in 6 Web-Connected Clients in Hungary Are Using Windows, iOS Almost Bigger Than Windows Now
Hungary is a cautionary tale in the world of European (or Russian) politics
Many Reports About Microsoft's Financial Report/Performance Are False, Fake News, Churnalism/Parroting, and LLM Slop (Machine-Generated Lies)
Even if you see a thousand sites saying that Microsoft is performing well ask yourself why the company is rushing to fire tens of thousands of workers and cancelling datacentres
Links 04/05/2025: FCC Turning Into MAGA’s Censoring Machine, SEC Pressured to Delist Chinese Companies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/05/2025: Historical Artifacts and Date Calculations in POSIX Shell
Links for the day
In the First 3 Months of 2025 GAFAM Debt Rose by More Than $14.4 Billion
That's based on their official statements
10-Step Strategy to Get BRETT WILSON LLP ("Gun for Hire"), Microsoft's Serial Strangler, and the Serial Defamer to Compensate Techrights and Tux Machines for Years of SLAPPs and Abusive Litigation
There's no room or capacity for forgiveness here; enablers and protectors of crime need to be scuttled and pay up in full
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 03, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 03, 2025